Saint Ethelburga of Faremoutiers
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Ethelburga was the daughter of the king of East Angles. During her childhood, Ethelburga lived in a Gallic convent under the direction of Saint Burgundofara, a home she would have for the rest of her life. She was known throughout the community for her adherence to the Rule of the Order. In the mid-seventh century, Ethelburga was chosen abbess. She ruled with wisdom and justice until her death. Saint Tortgith of Barking was one of her nuns.
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Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-ethelburga-of-faremoutier/
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Maria Goretti was born into poverty in Corinaldo, Italy. She was the third of seven children and was affectionately called Marietta by family and friends. Due to her family’s poverty, Maria was unable to attend school. She spent most of her time in the family home, performing chores and caring for her younger siblings. Her father owned a farm but lost it when Maria was only five years old. Hiring himself out as a farmhand, Maria’s father provided enough for his family to eat, but when Maria was nine, he died of malaria. To provide for her seven children, Maria’s mother began to work in the fields, with Maria taking on increased responsibility at home. Despite her lack of formal education and inability to read, Maria had deep faith. The family’s suffering from poverty and loss of their father did not diminish her faith; it strengthened it. When her mother began to lose hope during their difficulties, Maria habitually said, “Mother, be brave, God will help us.” Maria’s hope that her father would be freed from Purgatory led her to constant prayer, particularly the rosary.
When Mr. Goretti lost his farm, the Gorettis moved into a home shared with the Serenellis, Mr. Serenelli and his son Allessandro. Alessandro’s mother had suffered from a mental disorder and died when he was young. Alessandro’s brother suffered from a similar disorder, and their father was an alcoholic. As a result, Alessandro was a young man prone to anger who engaged in immoral behavior.
During the three years Maria and her family lived with the Serenellis, Alessandro made at least three sexual advances toward her. Each time she refused him. Outraged, he threatened to kill her if she told anyone, so she remained silent. When Maria was only eleven and Alessandro was twenty, he found Maria alone in their shared home, caring for her youngest sister and mending a shirt while her mother and older siblings were in the field working. Once again, Alessandro made a sexual advance toward her and she refused him. With an awl in his hand, Alessandro threatened to kill Maria if she refused him. “No! It is a sin! God does not want it!” she cried. She ran for the door, but Alessandro caught her and stabbed her fourteen times in the neck before running out of the house. As Maria lay bleeding on the floor, her little sister began to cry, catching the attention of her mother who came to investigate. After finding Maria stabbed and bleeding, she brought her to the local hospital where Maria survived for only a day.
At the hospital, the surgeon was surprised that Maria had survived that long. He immediately performed surgery without anesthetic. During the surgery, Maria woke up, and another doctor said to her, “Maria, think of me in Paradise.” Maria replied, “Well, who knows which of us is going to be there first?” The doctor said to her, “You, Maria.” To which Maria responded, “Then I will gladly think of you.” Before her death, Maria was able to express her forgiveness of Alessandro, further expressing her hope that she would see him in Heaven. She also received the last sacraments. On her deathbed, she told the Chief of Police that it was Alessandro who attacked her and added, “I forgive him, and I want him with me in heaven!” She died the following day.
In many ways, Maria’s brutal death marked the beginning of her new life. Her family was devastated, but they were also inspired by her faith, mercy, and act of forgiveness. At her funeral, many said of her, “A saint has died!” Devotion to her immediately began to spread and continues to spread today.
Since Alessandro was young, he was sentenced to thirty years in prison rather than life. During his first several years in prison, Alessandro remained defiant, refusing to repent. Although he knew that Maria had forgiven him, he could not accept forgiveness, nor admit his sin. However, when the local bishop, Giovanni Blandini, felt inspired to visit him in prison, things began to change. Around that time, Alessandro had a dream in which he saw Maria coming to him and handing him lilies, a symbol of purity. When he took the lilies, they burnt his hands and turned to dust. He wrote to the bishop thanking him for his visit, revealing the dream, and asking for prayers. In the years to follow, Alessandro underwent a profound conversion. After serving twenty-seven years of his thirty-year sentence, he was released.
Upon his release, Alessandro went to Maria’s mother, Assunta, and begged for her forgiveness, which she bestowed. “Who am I to withhold what my daughter so readily gave?” she responded. The next day, Alessandro and Assunta attended Mass together, receiving Holy Communion as if they were mother and son.
On June 24, 1950, Pope Pius XII canonized Maria and referred to her as the “Saint Agnes of the Twentieth Century.” Most remarkably, Maria’s mother and four of her siblings were present at the canonization. This was the first time a mother attended her child’s canonization. Even more remarkably, Alessandro was also present. Saint Maria’s prayers had truly worked a miracle of mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Alessandro became a lay Franciscan brother, working as a gardener until his death at the age of eighty-seven.
Saint Maria Goretti’s short life and tragic death present us with so much more than a tragedy. They present us with hope—hope that even the most hardened sinner can repent and be saved. So often our world reacts with outrage toward sin, rather than mercy. Mercy is the defining virtue in the heart of Saint Maria, and this eleven-year-old girl should inspire us to work to overcome all anger, bitterness, and resentment toward the sinner. Ponder your own depth of mercy, or lack thereof, and allow this young child to inspire you to follow her example.
Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/july-6—saint-maria-goretti-virgin-and-martyr/
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In 1502, Anthony Mary Zaccaria was born into a noble family in Cremona, a town in northern Italy. His father died when Anthony was two, leaving his eighteen-year-old mother to raise her only child. She ensured he received a good education and instilled in him a deep faith. His mother taught him to pray, leading him to spend long periods praying before a special altar dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in their home, attending Mass, and preaching to his friends. Anthony was also deeply influenced by his mother’s care for the poor. Once, while returning from church, he encountered a poor, half-naked beggar who asked for alms. Having nothing on him, Anthony gave the beggar his silk cloak. His mother’s praise for this act of charity further motivated Anthony’s dedication to caring for the poor and sick.
After Anthony completed his elementary studies in Cremona, his mother sent him to Pavia to study philosophy and then to Padua to study medicine. At the age of twenty-two, he earned his doctorate in medicine and returned to Cremona, where he began his work as a physician, devoting much of his time to the care of the poor. As a physician, Doctor Anthony discovered that he could minister to both the physical and spiritual needs of the sick, especially those who were on their deathbeds. When called to the bedside of the sick, he encouraged them to turn to God in prayer, to receive the Sacraments, and to turn away from sin. He also gathered poor children together and taught them catechism. As his influence grew, members of the noble class also sought him out as a teacher for their children. Eventually, Doctor Anthony began preaching in the local church as a layman, drawing a diverse crowd of rich and poor, young and old.
Not long after starting his medical practice, Doctor Anthony realized that the salvation of souls was of far greater importance than the healing of the body. As a result, he abandoned his medical practice and devoted himself more fully to prayer so that he could discern God’s will. At the urging of his spiritual director, Anthony pursued theological studies and ordination to the priesthood, and in 1528, at the age of twenty-six, he was ordained a priest. During his first Mass, a miracle took place. At the moment of consecration, Father Anthony was enwrapped in light that remained until the Blessed Sacrament was consumed. News of this miracle spread quickly, and many wondered what would become of this new saintly priest.
As a priest, Father Anthony continued to minister to the spiritual needs of the people of Cremona. At that time, morals were in steep decline, poverty was on the rise, constant wars had taken a toll, and church attendance had greatly diminished. North of Italy, the Protestant Reformation was in full swing and confusion was prevalent. In this context, Father Anthony continued to catechize the young and old, rich and poor. Many were attracted to him due to his eloquence and manifest holiness. Indifferentism had become the “religion” of the day, but in Father Anthony, many people found an answer to their spiritual emptiness. They listened to his sermons and teaching, confessed their sins, attended his Masses, and sought out his counsel.
After laboring in Cremona for two years, divine providence led Father Anthony to Milan. Milan was a flourishing city at that time, but it was also a city without morals. Then under Spanish rule, Milan suffered from the turmoil caused by the Protestant Reformation. In Milan, Father Anthony attempted to do what he had done in Cremona, catechizing, preaching, calling people to repentance, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and caring for the poor. The moral decay in that town, however, was so great that Father Anthony knew he needed to do more. After much prayer and meditation upon the Cross, he was inspired to form a new community of religious individuals who would work for the salvation of souls. He met two kindred spirits, Bartholomew Ferrari and Anthony Morigia, who listened to his ideas and enthusiastically joined him. Together, they formed the Clerics Regular of St. Paul, a new religious order dedicated to simple and prayerful living and preaching that sought to imitate the great evangelist Saint Paul. This order later came to be known as the Barnabites, taking the name of one of Saint Paul’s faithful companions, Barnabas.
The Barnabites lived the radical Gospel message of Christ crucified, as preached by Saint Paul, by embracing radical poverty, mortification, charitable works, and the proclamation of the Gospel. Little by little, they aroused the interest of the people of Milan and hearts began to convert. The devil, furious at their victories for Christ, lashed out in numerous ways, first by disturbing them in their dwellings with noises and vile manifestations, and then by stirring up some townspeople against them. Father Anthony and his companions, however, were victorious, and the devil’s attacks were thwarted as the people turned to adoration of Christ crucified.
In addition to a new religious order for men, Father Anthony gathered some holy women together under Countess Ludovica Torelli, Countess of Guastalla, for whom Father Anthony was spiritual director. At Father Anthony’s request, the countess petitioned the pope for permission to found a new order. Once granted, Father Anthony, the countess, and other women founded the Angelic Sisters of St. Paul. They not only lived a life of prayer, penance, and poverty, but they also engaged in public works of charity, working to reform religious life as a whole by their good example. The order flourished and made a great impact in Milan and other cities.
For the next few years, Father Anthony and his followers worked to expand their ministry by offering conferences for the clergy, establishing an organization for married persons, and offering missions of evangelization. He fostered devotion to the Blessed Sacrament by instituting the practice of forty-hours devotion before the exposed Eucharist, encouraged frequent Communion, and prompted churches to ring their bells at three o’clock on Fridays to invite people to a moment of prayerful recollection on the Passion of Christ.
After years of severe penance and tireless service in his apostolate, Father Anthony died on the eve of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul at the age of thirty-seven. Twenty-seven years after his death, his body was found to be incorrupt.
As we honor this fervent founder, preacher, lover of the Cross, and servant of charity, ponder Saint Anthony’s discovery that the salvation of souls is the greatest mission one can have in life. In the end, what will matter is how well we fulfilled the will of God. First and foremost, the will of God invites us all to have zeal for the proclamation of the saving message of Christ crucified in our words and deeds. Seek to imitate this servant of Saint Paul by freely embracing Saint Paul’s words, “But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14).
Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/july-5—saint-anthony-zaccaria-priest/
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Rainha Santa Isabel, or Saint Elizabeth, was born into the royal family of Aragon, Spain. She was one of three daughters of King Peter III of Aragon and Queen Constance of Sicily. Elizabeth’s older brothers would become successive kings of Aragon, Alfonso III and James II. Her namesake was her great-aunt, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.
As a young princess, Elizabeth enjoyed all the privileges of a royal upbringing, yet her stature did not distract her from her faith. She was deeply devout from a young age, spending hours in the castle chapel engaged in prayer. By age eight, she regularly fasted, attended Mass, and prayed the entire Divine Office daily. Unlike other girls her age, she sought virtue and glory for God rather than indulging in frivolous activities. Her humility extended to her royal status, which she saw as a platform for service rather than privilege. She consistently demonstrated a loving concern for the poor, sick, and suffering.
In 1279, Elizabeth’s father arranged her marriage to the seventeen-year-old King Denis of Portugal, who was a notable poet. This strategic union was designed to strengthen the political alliance between Spain and Portugal. In 1282, twelve-year-old Elizabeth wedded King Denis, becoming Queen Elizabeth of Portugal. Despite her husband’s infidelity and immoral lifestyle, Elizabeth showed remarkable grace, treating her husband with love and fulfilling her duties as queen with humility. They had two children: their daughter, Constance, in 1290, and a year later, their son, Afonso, who would succeed his father as King of Portugal.
Queen Elizabeth stood out in the royal court, which was marred by the king’s immoral lifestyle. Her virtuous living served as a rebuke to others. She offered the resulting ridicule she suffered to God with humility and love. As queen, she sustained her prayerful life, attending daily Mass, engaging in penance, and continuing to pray the entire Divine Office. Her deep love for the poor and sick remained steadfast, and she sought daily opportunities to aid them. Elizabeth would personally distribute food and money to those in need at the palace door, and despite the king’s anger at her generosity, she found ways to continue her charitable work secretly. Using her royal position, she also improved others’ lives by constructing monasteries, churches, and hospitals.
The royal family also included the king’s other children, born to women other than the queen. Despite their complicated family dynamic, Elizabeth treated her stepchildren with love. Her son Afonso, however, was not as accepting. He was particularly resentful of the attention his father paid to the children born out of wedlock. Tensions escalated to the point of war, but before a battle could occur, Queen Elizabeth intervened. She rode out to the scene of the battle herself, kneeling between her husband and son, begging for peace. She successfully reconciled the two, earning the title of “Angel of Peace.”
In 1325, upon King Denis’s death, Queen Elizabeth, then fifty-four, retired to a house next to a Poor Clare monastery. She joined the Third Order Franciscans, a lay order begun by Saint Francis. For the next eleven years, she lived in simplicity and poverty, continuing her charitable work and welcoming all who sought her counsel. She once again played the role of peacemaker when her son, now King Afonso, initiated a war against his own son-in-law. Elizabeth fell ill and died on July 4, 1336, after returning from this intervention. She was not buried next to her husband but in a convent she founded in Coimbra, the Convent of Santa Clara. Years later, her body was found to be incorrupt, and as recently as 1912, medical examiners and Church officials declared that her body remained free of decay, looking as if she were only sleeping.
Though Saint Elizabeth of Portugal was born into royalty, she encountered many challenges. Her arranged marriage, her husband’s infidelity, family division, and an immoral royal court were burdens she bore with dignity, peace, and strength. Her faith and virtues, fueled by deep prayer and charitable acts, guided her through these difficulties.
In honoring this Queen of Portugal, consider the passing nature of earthly honors. Queens come and go, but saints live on forever. Saint Elizabeth willingly traded her earthly crown for a higher one in Heaven, where her saintly dignity eternally glorifies God. Follow in her humble footsteps, preferring sanctity over worldly honors and ambitions. Strive for the eternal over the temporal, and you too will give eternal glory to God and dwell in His royal court forever.
Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/july-4—saint-elizabeth-of-portugal/
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Saint Thomas the Apostle is best known for doubting the Resurrection of Jesus, when he said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). Prior to this, the Gospels refer to Thomas several times. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke list him among the Apostles but do not provide details about his call. One of the few personal details given about Thomas is found in John’s Gospel, which refers to him as “Didymus,” meaning, “Twin.” It is reasonable, then, to presume that he had a twin.
The first detailed mention of Saint Thomas comes just prior to the seventh and final “sign” performed by Jesus in John’s Gospel. Jesus’ signs were his miracles, performed so that people “may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief, you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). The seventh sign was the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Prior to this miracle, the Sanhedrin was growing increasingly agitated and hostile toward Jesus. The disciples knew this, understanding that if Jesus performed more miracles, the Sanhedrin would react. When Jesus learned that his friend Lazarus had died, he told his disciples that he was going to raise Lazarus back to life. The disciples challenged Jesus out of fear of persecution, saying, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?” (John 11:8). Thomas then courageously said to the other disciples, “Let us also go to die with him” (John 11:16).
The second time Saint Thomas appears in John’s Gospel is at the beginning of Jesus’ Last Supper discourse. Jesus informed the Apostles that he would return to the Father and prepare a place for them, after which he would return to take them with him. Thomas objects, saying, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus responds with his often-quoted statement, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:5–6).
The final, and most well-known, time Thomas is included in John’s Gospel is when he is absent from the other Apostles after Jesus’ Resurrection, and Jesus appears to the ten. When Thomas hears about this later, he strongly voices his doubts. However, a week later, Thomas’ doubt is transformed into belief when he cries out, “My Lord and my God!” Traditionally, the faithful repeat Thomas’ statement during Mass after the words of consecration as a way of expressing faith in Jesus’ True Presence. It was Thomas who provided us with these words of faith.
The Acts of the Apostles mentions Thomas in the list of Apostles who gathered in the upper room after Jesus’ ascension into Heaven. Otherwise, Thomas is not mentioned again by name but is referred to generally with the other Apostles, such as at Pentecost. However, various ancient traditions widely believe that Thomas took Jesus’ final words seriously when Jesus said to the disciples, “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
Regarding Thomas’ journey “to the ends of the earth,” Pope Benedict XVI stated in a general audience, “Lastly, let us remember that an ancient tradition claims that Thomas first evangelized Syria and Persia (mentioned by Origen, according to Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 3, 1) then went on to Western India (cf. Acts of Thomas 1–2 and 17ff.), from where he also finally reached Southern India” (September 27, 2006). The certainty of this cannot be definitively confirmed, but there is substantial evidence to support it. In addition to Origen and Eusebius, other early Church Fathers spoke of his missions to India. In the fourth century, Saint Ephrem the Syrian composed a hymn in which he spoke of Thomas ministering in India, and Saint Gregory of Nazianzus mentioned the same. Later in the fourth century, Saint Ambrose of Milan spoke of Thomas’ missionary work in India, and in the late sixth century, Gregory, the bishop of Tours, records that the Apostle was martyred in India and his remains were brought back to Edessa, Syria, modern-day Turkey, a place that tradition says Thomas visited and preached in on his way to India.
According to the most reliable traditions, Thomas arrived in India around the year 52. He preached along the Malabar Coast of southwestern India, as well as farther north in the Deccan Plateau. One ancient text called “The Acts of Thomas” speaks of many conversions and miracles that Thomas performed. Around the year 68, it is believed that Thomas and his companions traveled to eastern India, in modern-day Chennai, where he preached the Gospel, cared for the poor and sick, and erected churches. Tradition further states that Thomas worked to convert kings and their families as a way of gaining their support to convert the people. In Chennai, there is a hill called “Saint Thomas Hill,” believed to be the location of his martyrdom. Around the year 72, legend has it that while praying on that hill, Thomas was pierced in the back with a spear by order of the king for converting his wife and other family members to Christianity.
As we honor this great Apostle of the Lord, ponder the zeal he must have had to leave his home, family, and community, and travel to the far regions of India where he spent the rest of his life sharing the Gospel, baptizing, and establishing the Church. He died a martyr, which is fitting for such a courageous man. Though he struggled with doubts at first, his doubts were transformed by Christ. Filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Thomas never looked back. As you ponder his life, reflect on any ways you can learn from him and imitate him. If you struggle with doubts, know that the Holy Spirit can transform those doubts and fill you with the same depth of zeal and commitment as Saint Thomas.
Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/july-3—saint-thomas-the-apostle/
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Lidanus was a Benedictine monk and an abbot. He drained the Pontine marshes in Italy. He founded an abbey in Sezze in the Papal States (part of modern Italy).
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Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-lidanus-of-sezze/
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Miguel José Serra y Ferrer was born as the third of five children in the village of Petra, on the island of Majorca, Spain, in the Mediterranean Sea. In his youth, he worked on the family farm but frequently visited the nearby Franciscan church where he was enrolled in school. The friars were so impressed with him that they encouraged him to join them in their vocation. Around the age of sixteen, Miguel moved to Palma, the capital of Majorca, where he entered the Franciscan order. After taking his vows, he was given the name Junípero, in honor of one of Saint Francis of Assisi’s companions. At the age of twenty-four, Brother Junípero was ordained a priest.
Following his ordination, Father Junípero continued his studies, earning a license in philosophy and a doctorate in theology. Word of his gifts as a brilliant scholar and preacher quickly spread, leading to his appointment as a teacher at the University of Palma. He lived a prayerful, penitential, and simple life as a friar, and enjoyed reading about Franciscan missionaries in his free time. These missionaries so inspired Father Junípero that, in 1748, at the age of thirty-five, he requested permission from his superiors to travel to New Spain, modern-day Mexico, to become a missionary himself. Permission was granted.
In 1749, Father Junípero sailed to the Spanish port city of Cádiz where he and a close companion waited for a Spanish ship to take them to New Spain. While at the port, he wrote a touching letter to his parents, whom he knew he would never see again, encouraging them to rejoice in the mission on which he was being sent. After setting sail on August 30, Father Junípero arrived in Veracruz, modern-day Mexico, on December 7, 1749. He spent the next month walking nearly 300 miles to Mexico City through tropical forests, plains, and high mountain ranges, enduring extreme weather conditions. During the journey, Father Junípero was bitten either by a bug or a snake, leaving him with a serious leg wound that would plague him for the rest of his life. Despite this, in the decades that followed, Father Junípero would travel many thousands of miles on foot, up and down the coast of what are today northern Mexico and southern California.
After arriving in Mexico City, Father Junípero was assigned to the Sierra Gorda Missions, just north of Mexico City, where he worked for the next nine years. During that time, he helped to found five missions among the indigenous Pame people, learning their language, evangelizing, baptizing, and teaching them European skills, such as farming, construction, and governance.
From 1758–1767, Father Junípero served as Guardian of the Convent of San Fernando in Mexico City, where he also taught. During this time, he made frequent trips into the surrounding mission territory to evangelize the natives. In 1767, he was sent to the Baja Peninsula where the Jesuits had founded eighteen missions over the previous seventy years. With the Jesuits suppressed and expelled from all Spanish territories in 1767, the Baja missions were turned over to the Franciscans with Father Junípero put in charge. He oversaw those missions until 1769 when he was sent north into what is modern-day California (Alta California), to assist with Spanish expansion by establishing new missions among those who had never heard the Gospel. This was Father Junípero’s dream. Up until that point, his missionary activity was directed towards those who had already begun to be evangelized. In Alta California, however, he and his companions would be the first to preach Christ to the native people.
At the age of fifty-six, Father Junípero and his companions made a 900-mile journey north into the unknown world of Alta California. In July of 1769, they arrived in the territory of what is now San Diego and founded the Mission of San Diego de Alcalá, named for the fifteenth-century Franciscan missionary Brother Diego of Alcalá. This was the first of twenty-one missions that would be founded along the California coast over the next fifteen years, nine of which Father Junípero founded himself.
Though the establishment of the California missions by Father Junípero and his Franciscan companions was for the purpose of evangelization, the Kingdom of Spain had ulterior motives. Alongside the missions, military forts and civilian towns were established. The Spanish government wanted to colonize California for economic and political reasons. By claiming California for itself and establishing a military presence there, Russia, England, and other nations were deterred from claiming the land. Despite the Spanish government’s ulterior motives, Father Junípero and the Franciscans worked tirelessly to treat the natives as true children of God.
A mission was set up as a self-contained area of land and buildings. When the natives chose to join the mission, they separated themselves from their former community and lived on the mission lands, in housing provided by the Friars. They were not only taught about the faith and instructed in prayer, they were also taught how to raise and harvest crops, tend animals, and European trades such as weaving and construction.
The policies that governed the California missions have drawn modern-day critics. For example, to guard the newly developing faith within the converts, the friars had strict rules about the converts leaving and returning to their native communities, even for visits. Punishment for such unapproved departures often included corporal punishment. Many natives also suffered from exposure to diseases that the European settlers brought with them, to which the natives had not developed immunity. While twenty-first-century anti-Catholic critics tend to overemphasize and misrepresent these aspects of the missions, it is abundantly clear from his diary and many letters that Father Junípero and his friars had a deep love for the native people and sought only to introduce them to the saving grace of Christ, which they did in great numbers. By the time of his death, it is estimated that Father Junípero had personally baptized as many as 6,000 natives, with many more thousands being baptized by the other friars at the missions he established. Father Junípero also succeeded in protecting the natives from the many abuses of the Spanish military and colonizers, one time even walking 1,800 miles to Mexico City to convince the Spanish Viceroy to enact a new bill of rights for the native people. This “Reglamento” was the first of its kind, written more than 150 years before the United States government would guarantee Native Americans similar rights.
As we honor Saint Junípero, we also honor his companion friars, as well as all those who came to receive the gift of eternal salvation through them. Had Saint Junípero chosen to remain in Spain, living a more comfortable and easy life, the evangelization effort in California might have taken a different turn. Today, many souls have been saved on account of his selfless sacrifices, and those souls are honored as much today as is Saint Junípero Serra.
Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/july-1—saint-junipero-serra-priest—usa-optional-memorial/
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Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was the fifth Roman Emperor who reigned from 54–68 A.D. He was known to be extravagant, impulsive, tyrannical, violent, and a madman. He murdered his first wife and even his own mother. In the year 64, when Nero was twenty-seven and had been Roman emperor for ten years, a fire broke out in Rome. The fire burned for nine days, destroying most of the city. Many believe that Nero himself had the fire set to make room for a new palace. When people started to question him, he blamed the Christians for the fire. At that time, Christians were a small minority within Rome and were seen as a menace and disruption to the traditional Roman way of life and the traditional Roman gods. Nero then systematically had as many Christians as he could arrested, tried, and murdered in the most brutal ways. One ancient pagan historian from that time named Tacitus recounts it this way:
Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace…Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.
Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man’s cruelty, that they were being destroyed.
These first Christian martyrs in the city of Rome are remembered and honored by the Church today. Saints Peter and Paul were among them, but numerous unknown others also gave their lives. Some of them were sewn into the bellies of animals while still alive and then fed to wild dogs to be torn to pieces. Others were coated with wax and lit on fire at night as torches in Nero’s gardens while he entertained guests. Still others were crucified like our Lord. These persecutions went beyond mere execution for a crime. They manifested an evil of the most diabolical nature.
Though these martyrdoms were expected to eliminate Christianity from the Roman Empire, those expectations were never realized. Instead, the courageous witness of these men and women planted and watered the seeds of faith that would continue to grow, blossom, and produce an abundance of good fruit.
For nearly three centuries, the persecution of Christians varied under different Roman Emperors. The most severe persecutions within the empire would occur two centuries later during the reigns of Emperors Decius (249–251) and Diocletian (284–305). It was not until the year 313, when Emperor Constantine the Great legalized Christianity with the Edict of Milan, that imperial persecutions ceased.
Today’s feast is strategically placed just one day after the Church honors Saints Peter and Paul, the two most notable martyrs during this Neronian persecution. By celebrating Saints Peter and Paul first, followed by a feast for every other martyr who died alongside them, the Church invites us to place ourselves not only in the shadow of Saints Peter and Paul, but also to join with these many unknown Christians who shed their blood for their faith. Though the physical shedding of one’s blood for Christ is a rare occurrence today, the depth of resolve Christians must have is the same. Every Christian, of every time and circumstance, must be so completely devoted to Christ that nothing, not even martyrdom, must deter us from our resolve.
As we ponder these unnamed heroes of our faith, prayerfully unite yourself to them. Look to Saints Peter and Paul as your chief inspiration and then resolve to become one of these unnamed witnesses who follow behind them. In Heaven, every sacrifice will be known and will become a cause for the glory of God. For now, many of our sacrifices are hidden and known only to us and to God. Rejoice in your own hidden sacrifices and know that those sacrifices unite you with those whom we honor today.
Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/june-30—first-martyrs-of-the-church-of-rome/
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According to ancient Roman mythology, in the seventh century BC, King Numitor was forcefully removed from his throne by his brother, Amulius. Amulius then forced Numitor’s daughter, Rhea Silvia, to become a Vestal Virgin so that she would not have children who could later attempt to reclaim the throne. However, one myth relates that Mars, the god of war, impregnated Rhea Silvia, and she bore twin sons Romulus and Remus. Amulius threw them into the river, but they were rescued by a she-wolf. When they grew up, they killed Amulius and restored their grandfather to his throne. They then decided to found a city but disagreed on its location, so Romulus killed Remus and founded a city, calling it Rome, after his own name. After his death, or ascension, he was said to have been deified as the god Quirinus. To this day, one of the seven hills of Rome is named after him, the Quirinal Hill. This ancient myth helped make up the religious beliefs of the people of Rome at the time when today’s saints, Saints Peter and Paul, entered Rome and preached the Gospel, laying down their lives as martyrs.
Myths that explained a city’s founding were important. These myths were often central aspects to the cultural and historical festivities in ancient times. This was especially true in Rome. Therefore, as the early Church began to take root in Rome, rather than dismissing this cultural practice, the early Church Christianized the story of Romulus and Remus by introducing a new festival for the new founders of Rome, Peter and Paul, on June 29.
Simon was born in Bethsaida, near the Sea of Galilee. He was a fisherman by trade, along with his brother Andrew. Matthew’s Gospel records that Simon and Andrew were the first whom Jesus invited to follow Him. After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and completed His forty days of prayer and fasting in the desert, He went to the Sea of Galilee, saw Simon and Andrew fishing and called to them saying, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). At that, these two brothers dropped everything and became Jesus’ first disciples. John’s Gospel relates a slightly different timeline, stating that Andrew first followed Jesus and brought Simon to Jesus the next day. When Jesus met Simon, He said, “‘You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas (which is translated Peter)” (John 1:42). Matthew’s Gospel relates that Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter when He said to him, “I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:18–19).
With his new name and unique spiritual authority in which he held the “keys to the kingdom of heaven,” Peter emerged as the central leader of the Church after Pentecost. He spent about a decade in Jerusalem, preaching powerfully, performing miracles, and converting many. He eventually traveled to Rome where he established the Church there, becoming its first bishop. Around the year 64, he was martyred during the persecutions of Emperor Nero. Tradition states that Peter requested to be crucified upside down because he did not consider himself to be worthy of dying the same way Jesus died. His tomb is located under the main altar of Saint Peter’s Basilica.
Saul was born as a Roman citizen in Tarsus, modern-day Turkey. As a young man, he went to Jerusalem to study at the renowned school of the rabbi Gamaliel. After Jesus’ ascension into Heaven, Saul became one of the fiercest persecutors of the early Church, being partly responsible for the death of the proto-martyr Saint Stephen (Acts 7:58). However, within a few years, as Saul was traveling to Damascus to persecute other Christians, he was knocked to the ground and struck blind. He heard Jesus say to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4). Jesus then directed him to a disciple of the Lord in Damascus named Ananias who baptized Saul. Saul spent about three years in Arabia where he went through an intense time of prayer and study, eventually returning to Damascus and then to Jerusalem where Barnabus introduced him to the other disciples, testifying to the veracity of his conversion.
In Jerusalem, Saul began to use his Roman name, Paul, and then spent approximately the next ten years as a missionary throughout the Mediterranean. Back in Jerusalem, he was imprisoned for a couple of years and then was sent to Rome for trial since he was a Roman citizen. In Rome, he met up with Saint Peter. According to tradition, Paul was beheaded just outside the city of Rome. When his head fell to the ground, it bounced three times, each time giving rise to a spring of water. The place is marked today by the Abbey of the Three Fountains.
Saints Peter and Paul are considered the foundational pillars of the Church. Peter represents the stability of the Church and the office of the Vicar of Christ. Paul represents the mission of evangelization that was entrusted to the Church by Jesus Himself. He was also the Church’s first theologian, which is seen in his numerous letters that expound on the Gospels. Though unlikely, one tradition states that they were both martyred on June 29, in Rome, making them twin martyrs. Their twin martyrdom reminds us that the Church must be both stable and mission-oriented. It must remain grounded in the ancient Truth, yet grow and flower with an ongoing understanding of the mysteries of faith.
As we honor these two pillars of the Church, recall the fact that, though they are great saints, they were also ordinary men called to extraordinary vocations. They responded and God used them in ways they could have never imagined. Ponder your own calling in light of theirs and resolve to lay your life down for the Church, joining yourself to these two men so that God can continue their holy mission through you.
Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/june-29—saints-peter-and-paul-apostles–solemnity/
Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles Read More »
After Pentecost, the Apostles preached the Gospel and established the Church in numerous cities. Saint John the Apostle is believed to have preached in Ephesus, modern-day Turkey. It was there that Saint Polycarp learned from him about Christ, was ordained a bishop, and was sent to the town of Smyrna, just fifty miles north, to govern the Church for approximately sixty-five years. In Smyrna, a young man named Irenaeus, raised in a Christian family, became Polycarp’s disciple, learning more about the faith from this disciple of the Apostle John. After his ordination as a priest, Irenaeus ministered in modern-day Lyon, France, under Bishop Pothinus.
Around the year 177, the Christian community of Lyon sent Irenaeus to Rome to assist the pope with a theological dispute over a heretical teaching. The teaching, later referred to as Montanism, claimed that certain individuals possessed superior prophetic insights directly inspired by the Holy Spirit. This mission attests to the respect Irenaeus commanded among the Christians of Lyon and his grasp of vital theological concepts. Providentially, the mission to Rome likely spared Irenaeus’s life. While Irenaeus was in Rome, a severe persecution of the Church broke out in Lyon and roughly fifty Christians were martyred, among them Bishop Pothinus. Upon returning to Lyon, Irenaeus was chosen as the next bishop.
As Bishop of Lyon, Irenaeus was a faithful pastor with a profound understanding of the Gospel as communicated from Jesus through the Apostles, and he articulated the faith with great clarity. He was energetic in his evangelization efforts throughout the region, sending missionaries to convert the many citizens who adhered to pagan beliefs. As the faith began to spread, errors concerning the faith started to emerge alongside Apostolic teachings. Although many of the early heretics might have had good intentions, they were not rooted in the pure faith and required correction to ensure the Church stayed on the straight and narrow path towards salvation. Irenaeus was one of the most influential figures in the early Church to guide the newly formed Christian communities down that safe road. He is especially known for two of his surviving writings: “Against Heresies” and “Demonstration of the Apostolic Teaching.” These two works constitute what is considered the very first catechism of the Catholic faith.
The most prevalent heresy in the early Church was what is now known as Gnosticism. Gnosticism is a broad term for many smaller deviations, all sharing similar premises. Generally, Gnosticism claimed that true knowledge was beyond the grasp of the ordinary person, and that the true intellectuals were privileged to possess a secret knowledge or insight necessary for eternal salvation. This secret knowledge was related to human nature, God, and the universe.
Irenaeus begins his defense of the faith by highlighting the “absurd ideas” of the heretical group called the Valentinians: “They maintain, then, that in the invisible and ineffable heights above there exists a certain perfect, pre-existent Æon, whom they call Proarche, Propator, and Bythus, and describe as being invisible and incomprehensible. Eternal and unbegotten, he remained throughout innumerable cycles of ages in profound serenity and quiescence.” Irenaeus went on to describe the Valentinians’ fantasy-like view that an offspring of one of these Æons, named the Demiurge, foolishly created the universe. The Valentinians identified this Demiurge as the evil god of the Old Testament. Jesus and His Father, by contrast, were good and were attempting to rescue humanity from their physical natures by helping them to obtain full knowledge of this spiritual history so that the enlightened ones could then enter into a purely spiritual realm, shedding the evil of the material world. After exposing the errors of the Valentinians, Irenaeus went on to expose the errors of others who fell into similar Gnostic camps.
Irenaeus’ approach was first to explain the errors by demonstrating the absurdity of the complex and confusing views of the Gnostics, that they employed poor reasoning in their beliefs, borrowed their ideas from other popular stories, and rejected the Rule of Faith handed down through Tradition from the Apostles. He then took a more positive approach by clearly articulating that the life, sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ were central to human salvation, and that, in the humanity of Christ, we are all saved and made one with Him, being reunited with the Father. This was achieved by carefully expounding on the Scriptures, both the Old and the New Testaments, and showing that the faith handed down from Jesus to the Apostles to the wider Church was comprehensible by all and easily embraced with simplicity and faith.
In a General Audience, Pope Benedict XVI explained it this way: “Irenaeus tells us, there is no secret doctrine concealed in the Church’s common Creed. There is no superior Christianity for intellectuals. The faith publicly confessed by the Church is the common faith of all. This faith alone is apostolic, it is handed down from the Apostles, that is, from Jesus and from God” (March 28, 2007). Thus, this so-called special “knowledge” that the Gnostics claimed to possess was purely fabricated by them, as it did not originate from the Apostles.
It’s hard to overestimate the importance of Irenaeus’ teachings for two main reasons. First, he aided the early Church in navigating through the initial confusion it encountered as new and erroneous ideas emerged. Second, his writings were among the first comprehensive catechetical instructions of the early Church, and those writings enabled numerous others who came after him to build upon what he had taught. Jesus promised the Apostles that the Holy Spirit would lead the Church into all truth. This happens when holy men and women listen to all that is handed down to them, remain faithful to that sacred Tradition, build upon it, and pass it on to others to develop it further. The Gospels were the first and most important foundation for this ongoing process. Irenaeus’ writings came shortly afterwards and remain an important foundation today. In fact, even in the most recent Church council, the Second Vatican Council, Irenaeus was one of the most quoted of the Church Fathers, showing an unbroken succession of faith from the early Church until today. Interestingly, it was not until 2022 that Saint Irenaeus was declared a Doctor of the Church under the title “Doctor of Unity.” This unique title particularly points Catholics of the East and West to the foundations of faith that we share with every other Apostolic Church, such as the Orthodox, with whom reunification is continuously sought.
As we honor this great Doctor of the Church, ponder the fact that your own faith has been believed and lived since the time of Christ. At times, our modern world seeks to undermine this ancient faith by labeling it as “old-fashioned” or “out-of-date.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The Truth that was revealed by Christ and His Apostles is as true today as it was at that time. Seek to immerse yourself in that unchanging yet ever-deepening deposit of faith, and you will discover that your family of faith includes all Christians of every era, making up the one Body of Christ.
Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/june-28—saint-irenaeus-bishop-and-martyr/
Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr Read More »
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